Canada enters the competition with some momentum, having beaten Cuba two nights in a row in FIVB World League competition on May 16-17. Cuba suffered injuries to two players during the matches and comes to Detroit with only 10 players.

The Champions Cup will be the first major competition of the season for the United States and Mexico.

Matches will be played at 4 and 6 p.m. each day, with the United States competing in the 6 p.m. matches against Mexico, Cuba and Canada respectively.

John Speraw (USA)
Detroit has been great. We haven’t had a chance to get out too much because we have been training and preparing. People here have been great. A lot of our guys have been playing professionally overseas for the last eight months. They’re finally home and they would love to take a rest. We’re asking them to get together and in two weeks get ready for a really important tournament. It’s a challenge for them. We do appreciate getting to play in front of a home crowd.

Glenn Hoag (Canada)
Our goal is to qualify for the World Cup, which is the first qualifier for the Olympics. It’s a really important event for us. We hope to get through in the top two. The guys just came back from their leagues. They were pretty successful in their league this year. We’re changing balls (from World League last weekend to NORCECA this weekend) so that adds another variable. We’re just trying to get our game going. The guys are focused, although I think some of them are pretty tired. Their focused and happy to be training together again.

Rodolfo Luis Sanchez (Cuba)
This is a unique opportunity to participate in a strong NORCECA tournament and also fight to reach the World Cup in Japan, which is the main objective. We have prepared hard to play hard against all the teams. All good teams are difficult to beat, but we can be equally good. We have 10 players available at the moment, but that will not be a problem to deliver a great show for the fans.

Juan Roberto Vilches (Mexico)
The tournament is going to be very strong. The competition is going to be hard, mostly because the U.S. is a strong team and they are playing at home with their starting lineup for the World League. Canada has a high level of competition and they have already started World League. Even Cuba, which has been restructuring, has a good team. The competition is going to be hard. All the teams have very strong squads. We bring a team that is half young members and half experienced members, which we believe can be competitive and be the surprise of the tournament.